Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

• Psalm 103:1-5

Better the little that the righteous have
    than the wealth of many wicked;

• Psalm 37:16

Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.

• Psalm 63:3-4

Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

• Psalm 73:25-26

“Many earnest Christians are struck as they pray the Psalms by how often the petition for life and good fortune occurs. From a glance at the cross of Christ there comes to many the unhealthy thought that life and the visible, earthly blessings of God are in themselves at least a questionable good, and in any case a good not to be desired. They take, then, the corresponding prayers of the Psalter to be an incomplete first stage of Old Testament piety, which is overcome in the New Testament. But in doing so they want to be more spiritual than God himself.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is talking about us going to God for sustenance, not to get rich.  Yet, you can read what he wrote here and hope that he would be a prosperity gospel preacher if he were alive today.

We must be careful.  The Scriptures were quoted in Bonhoeffer’s chapter regarding life.  The entire thing about abundant life is that we have everything we need to continue our service to the Lord.

I have looked at a variety of commercials lately for a well-known charity that helps people around the world.  In their commercial, one elderly lady says something along the lines of, “I don’t have to get out and help the needy.  I can simply write a check and it’s done.”

Jesus told us to help the needy.  God did not say to simply write a check.  Yes, the check goes to an organization that probably has a good ratio of money helping the poor to the money helping the pockets of the organization bosses.  In any case, good or bad charity organization, only a fraction of your money helps the needy.  But the danger is that you are insulated from the activity of helping the needy.

And in the United States of America, our government, our churches, and our families have gotten into the habit of writing checks.

We still have the poor, many of the charity organizers have become rich, and we are disconnected from the issue.

I spent thirty years of my working life writing textbooks and teaching in industry.  Sure, the bosses got rich, but I felt some people were improving their way of life.  It’s the old argument of whether you give money to a beggar to have enough money to buy a fish dinner, or do you take the beggar to the fish restaurant and eat with him, or do you teach him how to fish?

I say fish restaurant, since the backwoods restaurants in the south are either barbecue or catfish.  With some restaurants along the Gulf Coast being “crawfish” when in season.  Besides the three options for the interaction with the beggar deal with “fish.”

So, God will supply our needs.  And He may supply more than we need to survive.  Thus far, I maintain an internet connection and a computer that runs fairly well.  Those are not necessary for life, but they are necessary to continue writing these posts.  And thus, compared to the average person in an underdeveloped country, people could say that I am rich, but I rarely go out to eat, and I never eat three meals a day.  I have a car, but it rarely leaves the parking space unless to church, to a doctor’s office, or to the pharmacy or grocery store.  And I always try to combine trips to save fuel expenses and time.

And I rely on God for my needs, and those needs are being met with abundance.

Lord, guide us as we pray.  We should pray for our health.  We should pray for sustenance as you say in the Lord’s prayer, our daily bread.  But Lord, we need the spirit of contentment in our resources while never being content with our efforts in helping others.  In the name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.